Test axing came as a relief: Moeen

England allrounder Moeen Ali has described his axing from the Test team in New Zealand last month as "a relief".

After an Ashes campaign in which he suffered a complete loss of form – contributing just 179 runs at 19.88 and five wickets at 115 – Moeen thought the selectors perhaps should have swung the axe earlier.

But an impressive all-round Test record across a long period of time afford him some faith, and it wasn't until after the first Test against the Black Caps, which England lost and Moeen went wicket-less while making 0 and 28 with the bat, that he found himself on the outer.

"When I didn't play the last Test in New Zealand it was a relief," he told The Guardian.

"I could have been dropped three Tests earlier – I probably should have been – but Joe (Root, captain) said he sees me as a match-winner and, with 50 matches of experience, they (the selection panel) wanted to give me a longer run.

"(When I was dropped) it was almost like, 'Right, now I can actually work on my game and mentally have a break from the pressure of playing'.

"When it's my time again, I will be ready."

Moeen enjoyed a golden home summer with the ball in the period leading up to the Ashes, taking 30 wickets in seven Tests – including an historic hat-trick at The Oval – as he cemented his reputation as one of the world's leading allrounders.

In late 2016, he made two hundreds and a fifty on a challenging tour of India, where England were trounced four-nil.

But despite a reasonable start to his Ashes campaign with the bat – he scored 38 and 40 in Brisbane – he succumbed to the wiles of rival off-spinner Nathan Lyon on seven occasions throughout the series, and was unable to make any impact with the ball himself.

"I have been up and down the batting order and it's difficult," he said. "When we got to Australia I was down to bat six, then went to seven when the series started. You don't really know your role.

"You do your best but I think I'm going to try and get back in (to the Test team) as a batsman first, spinner second.

"The problem is, because I have played more than others – say if Jack Leach is in the same team, or Liam Dawson or Adil Rashid before – I'll still get seen as the senior spinner because I'm more experienced."

Moeen is currently in India, having been picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for his maiden IPL season. He is yet to make his debut.